Dutoit`s Baton Works Magic In Montreal

March 9, 1986|By Tim Smith, Music Writer

Not long ago, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, which visits South Florida this week, was considered by many to be a provincial orchestra of slender significance. Though it had a history of notable conductors -- including Igor Markevich, Zubin Mehta and Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos -- the ensemble had never really established itself in the music world.

In 1977, it looked as if the orchestra had never really established itself in Montreal, either, for there was a very strong chance that the organization would dissolve in the wake of a strike and the sudden departure of Fruhbeck de Burgos. There was little money coming in, either from the government or the private sector. There didn`t seem to be much of a future for the then 43-year- old orchestra.

But an energetic, good-humored man by the name of Zarin Mehta -- younger brother of the New York Philharmonic`s Zubin -- was not about to watch the demise of the orchestra he had worked for so devotedly.

Mehta, who started with the orchestra in 1973 while ``on loan`` from a major Montreal accounting firm, had quickly become a pivotal force in the orchestra`s administration. His determination and style have been widely credited with helping to keep the orchestra afloat while it searched for a new music director and a new lease on life.

Among the guest conductors who took the podium in 1977 was Charles Dutoit, a solid, respected Swiss-born maestro who had considerable experience with European orchestras and a good reputation based on several recordings. Although Dutoit conducted only one concert in Montreal, Mehta quickly sensed that he had his man.

``He was an enormous success,`` Mehta recalled from his Montreal home a few days ago. ``We liked his personality and he worked well with the musicians. After his concert, I flew to London to discuss the music director post with him. After an all-night meeting, he agreed to try it out. It`s worked extremely well and we haven`t looked back since.``

If Mehta, who has been the orchestra`s general manager since 1981, hasn`t looked back, critics and orchestra analysts have been doing plenty of that because today the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal is considered one of the finest orchestras in the world -- and certainly the finest exponent of French symphonic music.

Thanks to a distinguished string of state-of-the-art albums and compact discs, most of which have won major international recording awards (18 so far), the Montreal orchestra is now known and admired just about everywhere. Its concert tours have garnered gushy reviews from New York to Tokyo and across the European continent.

More importantly, perhaps, it enjoys financial stability (a $500,000 deficit in 1977 was cleared up by private and government grants within a few weeks of Dutoit`s appointment) and a remarkable level of popular support in Montreal. There are now billboards throughout the city emblazoned with the visage of the conductor and the simple slogan, ``Pride of the City.``

Much of this success story, both artistic and fiscal (the orchestra now has an annual budget of $10 million), can be attributed to the dynamic team of Mehta and Dutoit. The lessons of this success story are being studied by growing orchestras elsewhere.

``When you start improving the artistic quality of an orchestra, then the money starts to come in,`` Mehta said. ``And you have to have an audience that comes consistently week after week. Our progress was slow and steady.

``We needed a few leaders in the community. About four or five years ago, a few corporations saw the light and said, `Here is a potential for cultural excellence.` The Bank of Montreal (which is sponsoring the orchestra`s current tour) decided to contribute a large amount to the orchestra, saying that it was perhaps a risky investment, but a good one for Montreal and for Canada. Their commitment has helped other corporations to come through.

``Of course, the success of our recordings and tours has helped tremendously. Even people who don`t go to our concerts read about the orchestra in the papers almost every week -- stories about more record awards or something.

``And we give a number of concerts at popular prices in major arenas and outdoor parks. In 1982, we performed in the Montreal Forum, where hockey games are played. We did Beethoven`s Fifth and Ninth symphonies for 15,000 people who paid $10 each. They heard two major masterworks in surroundings where they did not feel they were in a cultural palace; they were comfortable. And last year, we performed in a park for 100,000.

``All of this has imprinted the orchestra in the psyche of Montreal -- and all across Canada, in fact, as well as in the States, which no doubt explains why this tour is being so eagerly awaited.``